Also celebrating significant anniversaries this year are four priests who are marking their 65th years as priests and six who are 60 years ordained.
Ordained 65 years are: Msgr. Austin Bennett, special assistant to the bishop and a resident of St. Thomas Aquinas rectory, Flatlands; Father Francis J. Labita, who lives at Bishop Mugavero Residence, Douglaston; Msgr. William J. Rodgers, chaplain and resident of Queen of Peace Residence, Queens Village; and Father Joaquin Suran, who has a private residence in New Jersey.
The priests observing their 60th anniversaries of ordination to the priesthood are: Msgr. Gerard J. Arella, Bishop Mugavero Residence, Douglaston; Msgr. John Casey, who resides at Our Lady of Lourdes rectory, Queens Village; Father Eugene Coyle, Bishop Mugavero Residence; Father Ralph Guarracino, who lives in the residence at Mount St. Mary’s Cemetery, Flushing, and serves as a chaplain there; Father Edward J. Kiernan, who lives in a private residence in Southampton, L.I.; and Father Raffaele Zaccagnino, who resides in Rome, Italy.
Dear Fr. Labita, I remember you from my days in OLA. It was a wonderful era to have grown up in. I have only good memories. Congratulations on this blessed anniversary. You have aged well. Maureen Murphy Weber
I would like to prayerfully congratulate Msgr. John F. Casey on his 65 year Anniversary as a Priest. As a very young Priest, I believe, he served in St. Patricks Long Island City. My sister and I got to know Fr. Casey at that time, she attended school there. I would like to hear from Msgr. Casey and also ask him to remember me in his Prayers.
Back then, in 1957, an unexpected, unfortunate event occurred in our family. Fr. Casey came to our home to offer prayerful assistance to my family, the memory of those days has been with me for a lifetime
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May God continue to Bless you as you have touched the lives of so many during all these years.